Excerpt:
Many voters might be opening their ballots for the first time, with just hours to go before polls close on Election Day. Kim Alexander is the President and Founder of the California Voter Foundation and provides some last-minute tips on filling out your ballot, as well as the importance of participating in the elections process. (Full Audio)
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There are only two more days to vote in California, and more than 7.6 million Californians have cast their ballots. But the counting will last for days, if not weeks, before news outlets declare all the winners or candidates concede.
The delays and uncertainty — which have grown since California started sending mail ballots to all voters — can sow doubts or even conspiracy theories. So state and local election officialsare trying to reassure voters that their ballots are safe against cyber and other attacks and will be counted.
To bring more transparency and build public trust in the count, the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation is launching a new project that, in seven swing congressional districts, will track how many ballots have been counted, how many ballots remain to be tallied and the margin between the two candidates. The updates will start Tuesday and end Dec. 5.
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More than 8 million Californians already cast their ballots just one day before the election, but even with the advantage of early voting, it's likely to take several days to determine the winner of several races.
In this election, several key races are highly competitive, with narrow margins of victory anticipated, making it a challenge to know the winners on Election Day, according to the California Voter Foundation.
And this election will be a nail-biter, since it will decide who sits in the White House and determine the balance of power in Congress.
And while the latest polls showed a landslide of support for Vice President Kamala Harris in blue California, national polling placed the presidential contest on a knife's edge. Harris and former president Donald Trump are battling down to the wire in swing states.
Exceprt:
If you want to vote in person before Election Day, you may wish you lived somewhere besides San Joaquin County.
That’s because you have only one in-person option — weekdays at the county registrar’s office in downtown Stockton.
Nearby counties give voters more places where they can cast a ballot.
Contra Costa opens five voting centers, starting Friday. Stanislaus County opened six this week, with more coming this weekend. Sacramento voters have their choice of 16.
To cast a ballot early in San Joaquin County, a voter must go to the registrar’s office at 44 N. San Joaquin St. during its normal business hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. That means this Friday or Monday — not Saturday or Sunday.
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Kim Alexander, Founder and President California Voter Foundation. The California Voter Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working through research, oversight, outreach and demonstration projects to improve the election process so that it better serves the needs and interests of voters. (Full Audio)
Did you make a mistake filling out your ballot? Need a refresher on how ranked choice voting works? Wondering how to find your polling place? Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation, and KQED’s Scott Shafer join us to take all of your voting questions ahead of the Nov. 5 election. (Full Audio)
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Election Day — your last day to vote — is on Tuesday, Nov. 5. And if you’re a registered California voter, your ballot should be arriving in your mailbox very soon, if it hasn’t already.
But what if you make a mistake on your ballot as you’re filling it out? Or are you just not sure how to fill it out in the first place?
Keep reading to learn how to fill out your ballot, how important your signature is and your options if you need to start again with a fresh ballot.
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What if I just don’t know my ‘correct’ signature I’m registered to vote with?
If you’re really worried about the signature on your envelope not matching the signature you’re registered to vote with, there are two good solutions.
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It may be hard to believe, but the 2024 general election is just a few weeks away. And if you’ve registered to vote, your ballot should be landing in your mailbox very soon if it hasn’t arrived already.
But even for seasoned voters, this year’s California ballot might contain a few surprises that could leave you looking twice — or even wondering if there’s a misprint on your ballot.
“There are a number of tricky landmines on the ballot that you need to navigate as you’re working your way through,” said Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation. And when it comes to the not-so-intuitive aspects of voting, Alexander said the message her organization is “always trying to get across is: it’s not you. It’s the elections process, which is unnecessarily mysterious.”
2024 VOTER GUIDE: CALIFORNIA, BAY AREA AND NATIONAL GENERAL ELECTION
As California vote-by-mail boxes start to arrive in voters’ mailboxes, KQED asked Kim Alexander about key issues in this election, including mis- and disinformation, preparing to vote and election security.
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We’re rounding the corner to Election Day and soon ballots will arrive in the mail. But even though we do this every two years, it doesn’t hurt to have a refresher on what we’ll be voting on, outside of candidates - from propositions to bonds. Insight Host Vicki Gonzalez spoke with Kim Alexander, the President and Founder of the California Voter Foundation, as well as Dr. Mindy Romero, the Director and Founder of the USC Center for Inclusive Democracy, for an Election Literacy 101. (Full Audio)
